President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner “inadvertently omitted” more than 70 assets worth at least $10.6 million from his personal financial disclosure reports, according to revised paperwork released Friday. The previously unreported assets were included in updated financial disclosure reports certified by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics Thursday as part of…
read moreFormer U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice has met with the Senate’s Intelligence Committee as the panel investigates Russia’s interference in the U.S. election, one of several Obama administration officials to talk to the committee. A spokeswoman for Rice confirmed the closed-door meeting Friday, saying Rice met voluntarily with the panel and was pleased to…
read moreThe appointment of a new communications director at the White House on Friday led to the sudden resignation of its high-profile press secretary. Anthony Scaramucci, an entrepreneur and former hedge fund manager, was offered the communications job by President Donald Trump. That led to Sean Spicer, the press secretary and acting communications director, to immediately…
read moreTo understand the significance of the so-called Monkey Trial, one must try to imagine the America of 1925; specifically, the southern state of Tennessee. Under pressure by a coalition of strict Christians, Tennessee became the first state in the United States to pass a law — the Butler Act — that deemed it illegal to…
read moreThe Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. during the 2016 campaign has represented a military unit operated by Russia’s intelligence agency, according to court filings obtained by The Associated Press on Friday. The filings from 2011 and 2012 show that Natalia Veselnitskaya represented Military Unit 55002 — run by the FSB, Russia’s main…
read morePhilippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he will never visit the United States while he is in office, and adds that he has “seen America and it’s lousy.” Duterte delivered his latest verbal attack on the United States after he was asked in a news conference Friday to react to an American lawmaker’s threat to lead…
read morePresident Donald Trump was expected to sign an executive order Friday authorizing a comprehensive review of the U.S. manufacturing sector to help ensure the security of the nation, according to White House officials. White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro told reporters Friday industrial supply chains will also be reviewed in the effort to…
read moreBusinesses owned by U.S. President Donald Trump have filed requests for visas with the Department of Labor to hire dozens of temporary foreign workers. The news of the requests comes during the White House’s “Made in America Week,” urging American companies to hire American workers, a central theme of Trump’s presidential campaign. The president’s Mar-a-Lago…
read morePresident Donald Trump is expected to announce his policy for Afghanistan before the end of this month, amid growing concerns about the increasing presence of Islamic State and other terrorists groups in the region. Trump’s move to give more authority to the Pentagon is welcomed across the board, from U.S. army officials to Afghan President…
read moreAn international energy watchdog warns that the decline in global investment in the oil sector could lead to energy shortages when prices start to rebound. The International Energy Agency says energy investments have declined 20 percent in the past three years as oil profits fell. One analyst tells VOA that is a short-term recipe for…
read moreThere has been an outpouring of bipartisan support for Republican Senator John McCain, after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. McCain is widely regarded as an American hero for his service in the Vietnam War and his five years as a prisoner of war, and for his 31 years as a…
read moreNews that Republican Senator John McCain has brain cancer triggered expressions of shock and an avalanche of well wishes from across Washington and around the world. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, McCain’s absence deprives the Senate of one of its strongest, most resolute voices and deprives Republicans of a vote they desperately need. …
read moreU.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday said he would continue in his job, a day after President Donald Trump harshly criticized him in an interview with The New York Times. As VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, the president’s frustration stems from Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s presidential…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s aides are said to be investigating special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, looking for ways to discredit his Russia inquiry, news reports revealed late Thursday. The president has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe, The Washington Post reported, quoting one…
read moreThe government of Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said on Thursday that it was firing its special counsel in a corruption probe of Brazilian builder Odebrecht, sparking accusations of interference. Justice Minister Marisol Perez said she dismissed special attorney Katherine Ampuero for blocking Odebrecht’s sale of its irrigation company Olmos. Perez said the decision put…
read moreSears will begin selling its appliances on Amazon.com, including smart appliances that can be synced with Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa. The announcement Thursday sent shares of Sears soaring almost 11 percent. The tie-up with the internet behemoth could give shares of the storied retailer one of its biggest one-day percentage gains ever. Sears, which…
read moreA judge in Brazil on Thursday ordered the seizure of more than $2.8 million in pension funds from former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in connection with his corruption conviction. The funds were in one of Silva’s individual accounts and in another linked to his company LILS, which administers assets from his lectures, according…
read moreLast winter, the U.S. tourism industry fretted that Trump administration policies might lead to a “Trump slump” in travel. But those fears may have been premature. International arrivals and travel-related spending are up in 2017 compared with the same period in 2016. There might even be a “Trump bump,” says Roger Dow, CEO of the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump Wednesday promised a “very transparent” and open-minded investigation into voter fraud, as his presidential advisory commission on election integrity held its first public meeting. As VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, many of Trump’s critics reject the commission out of hand, saying it is meant to find evidence of Trump’s belief in widespread…
read moreA study by the Economic Policy Institute says the chief executive officers of America’s largest firms were paid an average of $15.6 million each in 2016. In a report published Thursday, authors Lawrence Mischel and Jessica Schieder say that amount is 271 times as much as a “typical” worker’s earnings at those same corporations. That…
read moreSix months into his presidency, Donald Trump has a mixed record on his pledges to reverse much of his predecessor’s foreign policy legacy. He has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, dropped the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact and vocally supported better relations with Russia. But as VOA White House correspondent Peter Heinlein reports, many…
read moreIndia’s top builders have pledged to make at least a fifth of their new housing developments sustainable by 2022, as the country looks to tap sectors other than renewable energy to meet its ambitious climate goals. The campaign is led by the Sustainable Housing Leadership Consortium (SHLC) comprising builders Godrej Properties, Mahindra Lifespaces, Shapoorji Pallonji,…
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